Alarming Explanations
by FOBsession-DL-Freak
Summary: "When Jade and I fight, all I do is listen to this playlist I made. It reminds me of all the perfect moments that make me love her. It's what keeps me falling over and over." BADE.
1. Just The Girl

**Summary:** "When Jade and I fight, I wait until she finally gets frustrated enough to drop the subject for a little while and I listen to a playlist of songs that remind me of why we're together. By the time I'm finished, we're back to fine. It's how I remember why I love her so much."

* * *

><p>"How could you be any more stupid?" Jade yelled as she stormed into the entrance of Hollywood Arts, making most of the kids jump with surprise. This was a great wake up call.<p>

"You really expected me to remember that you wanted a completely different coffee order today than you do normally? I'm sorry, but I don't see what's so bad about it. Is this really worth another fight?" Beck called back as he walked in time with her footsteps.

"Oh no... it's too early for this," Tori said, closing her eyes and throwing her head back. Unfortunately, the gang was gathered on the floor by her locker. Andre sat up a little straighter as the couple got closer. He was always ready for a ridiculous fight that passed between the couple almost every day. Robbie and Rex were busy dealing with their own fight.

Luckily, the one who had the issue with the fighting had blasting headphones in her ears, with her eyes closed in her little fantasy world. Cat was dancing in her seat with her back to the two as Jade finally reached them. She sat down next to Tori, and instantly snatched the coffee out of her hand, taking a slip.

"I can always count on Tori to have some funky coffee," Jade said, swishing the contents of the paper cup around to mix it up a bit more before drinking again.

Beck slid in next to her. As she swallowed and lowered the cup to the floor between her legs, he turned her face. "Stop being mad at me."

Her eyes shot back and forth to the deep brown ones that were staring intensely into hers. "No."

The bell sounded as a sigh escaped his lips. Jade got up quickly, wrapping her backpack strap over her shoulder before reaching down and grabbing Cat by the arm. She screamed quickly but realized what was happening. As she struggled to get up, she waved a goodbye while Jade continued to pull.

Tori, Andre and Beck all rose together, as Tori watched Jade escape their vision she spoke, "how can you possibly put up with her crazy mood swings."

Andre and Beck laughed whole heartily while they began walking to their first period, Tori chased after them. "Why're you laughing about that? You seemed upset earlier."

"Eh. We fight. This is how we work. Besides, this fight's about coffee. Nothing too serious."

"Yeah, there's no way around it." Andre joked. Beck shoved him slightly before they walked into their English class. Beck's phone went off in his pocket as soon as he sat down.

"Mr. Oliver, I suggest you turn your phone off before the final bell rings or it will be mine," the grumpy, old teacher spoke, hardly looking up at the incoming class. It wasn't their normal teacher, Judy, but the sub that went by Mr. Johnson. He doesn't care about the class, so for about two hours, the students would have a free period.

Beck reached into his outer pocket of his backpack before placing it on the ground, grabbing his cellphone and holding down the vibrate key. He opened the blinking message on the screen, "_I can't believe you."_

He couldn't help but smirk.

"And now all is well," Tori said in exasperation.

"Not exactly. She's still pissed," Beck explained, shoving his phone back into his pocket. "But it doesn't matter. We'll be fine."

"Like I said before, Jade and Beck shouldn't work, but they want to." Andre spoke while reaching into his backpack, pulling out a Dunkin' Donuts bag. He chomped away on the frosty, fried, donut.

"But why? Why don't you get tired of her? I would!"

"I would." Andre spoke with a full mouth, causing Tori to look at him with disgust.

"Stay away from Jade, okay?" Beck told Andre, jokingly, of course.

"Anyway, back to your attempt at convincing me that you're perfect for Jade, even though you always fight and seem to hate each other," Tori stated, taking her phone out before setting it on her desk. If the teacher wasn't watching, there was no chance of taking it away.

"I can't really explain it without it, so," Beck stated, digging into the back pocket of his jeans, taking out his iTouch and handing Tori a headphone. She still listened as she shoved the plastic in to a snug fit. "Whenever Jade and I have a bad fight, I always listen to this playlist that started back when we began dating in middle school up until the one I added about a week ago."

"You've been dating since middle school? I though you've only been together for a year or so?" Tori questioned as Andre took the other ear piece from Beck and copied her lead with the headphone.

"I think you're thinking of yourself," Andre said, "because you got here a year ago. Jade and Beck were dating long before that. I remember they started off tenth grade together, but at the end of freshman year, you weren't together."

"In other words, eight grade, we dated for half a year, then broke up, then got to be good friends, then got together, now we're here," he took a sip from his coffee once more before setting it on his desk. "And before you ask, it will all be explained during the songs."

"It's not boring either, he makes it interesting," Andre added.

"You've done this?" Tori asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend.

"About four times. Everyone's gone through it, because everyone tries to tell them they don't work," he said.

"Anyway, we've got stories to get through," Beck said, snapping his fingers.

"How many cups of coffee have you had this morning?" Tori picked up his almost empty cup and swirled it around in her hand. "There's almost nothing in here."

"There was a long line this morning. They messed up my order twice. I had three cups, that's my forth." Beck stated, his knee bumping up and down slightly.

"This is gonna be great," Andre laughed, rubbing his hands together. "Press play, bro."

Beck pressed the button and the sounds of an old tune filled her ears:

"_She's cold and she's cruel, but she knows what she's doing. She pushed me in the pool at our last school reunion..._"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> I know the fight in the beginning was stupid, but I just needed something to fill in for a fight. I hope these songs, and these chapters please you and your ears. :)


	2. Risque

_She's cold and she's cruel, but she knows what she's doing,  
>She pushed me in the pool at our last school reunion.<br>She laughs at my dreams, but I dream about her laughter.  
>As strange as it seems she's the one I'm after.<em>

It was the first day of eight grade, and one Beck Oliver was stuck at his least favorite thing of the year, the Welcome Back Bash that every class would have during the first week. The sixth graders got the Cafeteria, the seventh graders were given the Auditorium, and the eight graders were given the gym.

The party wasn't exactly as lame as he thought it was going to be. They were playing some pretty good music, along with covering up half of the pool that stood in the middle of the room, making it a transparent dance floor.

His friends were surrounding him, so it was amazing that he spotted the brown and blue locks through the crowd. He grabbed his best friend, Johnny, by the collar and made him look through the mass of students, "who is that?"

"Who? That chick with the hair?" he asked, attempting to point over the heads of their peers.

"Yeah, that's specific," Beck mumbled, barely able to take her eyes off of him. "The one with the blue and brown, standing by the water, by herself."

"Well if she's by herself, maybe she needs some company," Johnny said with a smile, nudging the boy in the side. Beck rolled his eyes before looking at him with sheer stupidity. "What? She's got to be new, because one of us would have remembered that face. Go introduce yourself. Isn't that what this stupid party is for?"

Johnny did have a point there. Before he grasped onto what was going on, his friend began pushing him towards the girl. About half way, his friend gave him one last shove before Beck found himself face to face with the girl he wasn't looking for.

"Hi, Beck," a girl with a yellow dress, and her hair in a french braid said with a smile. She had her hands clasped in front of him, swinging a little side to side. "How was your summer?"

The girl with the streaks looked his way for a quick moment, and she surveyed him and he could feel her eyes running up and down his body. She smirked a little and then turned back to looking into the water.

"Stacy, I can't talk," he said, walking around her. He left her in awe and upset by passing right by her, literally. He couldn't help himself. He felt his heart pulling towards this girl. Even though he refused to take his eyes off the girl, he managed to lose her by the time he got to the edge. He looked around frantically for a moment, before looking down at the clear, blue water.

That's when he felt something poking into his back, and this was no finger.

"Don't move," a voice behind him spoke. He couldn't put a name to the tone, but he could tell right away that it was a girl.

"Or what?" Beck asked, debating on if he should turn around or not.

"If you're good, I might let you live," she said getting a little closer to his back, he could feel the warmth of her body already. "But if you're bad, things will happen."

"What kinds of things?" he asked because she must be bluffing. Before she could answer, he turned around to face her, but as soon as he did, he felt himself flopping back into the pool. He was completely submerged before he realized what happened. She pushed him in the freaking swimming pool!

As he reached the surface of, luckily, the deep end, he looked up at the platform of all his peers laughing at him. She stood in the middle, smirking down at him, arms crossed over her little chest. She yelled down at him, "Shouldn't have moved."

And with that, she turned on her heel and walked away, swinging a pair of scissors back and forth as she moved.

He flipped his hair up and out of his face as he swam to the side. His friends awaited him with a spare towel they found on the rack, helping him out from the side. It was freezing cold, and thank God he didn't have his phone in his pocket.

"What the hell happened?" Johnny asked him.

"She pushed me, dude," Beck stated simply, but really wasn't focused on what happened. He was focused on her. The girl was perfect.

_'Cause she's bittersweet, she knocks me off my feet,  
>And I can't help myself I don't want anyone else,<br>__She's a mystery, she's too much for me,_

_But I keep coming back for more, she's just the girl I'm looking for._

* * *

><p>"So you decided to follow the girl who wanted to stab you with a pair of scissors?" Tori asked, completely amazed. "You're more weird than I thought."<p>

"No girl ever did that to me, and I found it oddly... nice. No one has ever made an impact on me that big," Beck explained. "And the fact that she walked away is the reason why it's funny that she came to me after it."

"No way, Jade would never do that," Tori said.

"She did. She found my locker and put her number in there. I figured it was her because she made the ending 00 in her number as the handle to her scissors," Beck said, scratching his head, "then there was about three weeks where we only texted and called each other. Other than that, I couldn't find her, and believe me. I looked."

"How big was your school?" Andre mumbled.

He ignored his friend's comment and began to play the next song.

_I've got birds in my ears and a devil on my shoulder,_

_And a phone to the other and I can't get a hold of her,_

_And what's a crush to do? _

_What's a crush to do, when he can't get through?_

"I'm not going to explain this one, because it's just a bunch of talking and trying to get her to meet me during school," Beck said to save time. "But I will tell you that eventually she agreed to a date, and we had to be in walking distance of it after school, because we were obviously middle schoolers. But this song fit almost perfectly."

He skipped the rest of the Cute is What We Aim For song and played one of his personal favorites.

_In the car, I just can't wait, _

_To pick you up on our very first date._

_Is it cool if I hold your hand?_

_Is wrong if I think it's lame to dance?_

_Do you like my stupid hair?_

_Could you guess I didn't know what to wear?_

_I'm really scared of what you think,_

_You make me nervous so I really can't eat._


	3. First Date

_In the car, I just can't wait, _

_To pick you up on our very first date._

_Is it cool if I hold your hand?_

_Is wrong if I think it's lame to dance?_

_Do you like my stupid hair?_

_Could you guess I didn't know what to wear?_

_I'm really scared of what you think,_

_You make me nervous so I really can't eat._

A very nervous Beck stood against the outer fence of their Middle school, awaiting the arrival of his date, who was already fifteen minutes late. He checked his cell phone again, partially for the time and partially to see if he had a new message, or a call he could have missed... even if he had been holding his phone this entire time. He's been going through this routine every three minutes, as if he mentally doing a countdown.

Before he could manage to stop himself, his left, ring finger was coming up to his mouth as he chomped down on the too-short nail that covered the tip. He snipped away on the edges because he was subconsciously aware of how long he'd let them get recently. He didn't want to ruin it right away... In a flash, his hand moved from his face and back down to his side.

Okay, he was nervous. That was the only explanation for him to go back to biting.

His nerves seemed to turn into excitement as he finally spotted her walking towards him from the school entrance. The girl was wearing a blue and black plaid shirt, with a white camisole under it to keep her developing chest in check. A pair of ripped up skinny jeans hid her legs, while classic style vans covered her feet.

Beck took a deep breath as he pushed himself off the fence, shoving his phone into his front pocket. "What took you so long?"

Her eyebrow raised as she approached him, "does it matter? I'm here now, aren't I?"

Beck rolled his eyes, "I guess..." Then she instantly began walking away from him. "Where are you going?"

"Didn't we have a date?" She called back, turning so she was now walking backwards. Since she was walking on the north side of the street, the cars flying in his direction whipped her curly and colored hair into her face. For some reason, it held a smile and a hint of excitement.

He questioned leaving for a moment, but after he saw how gorgeous her smile was, he couldn't stop his feet from hitting the pavement behind her as he rushed to catch up. "We do have a date, which is why I'm confused that you're going this way, the opposite direction from Old Style Pizza. You know, where our date is supposed to be taking place."

"Do you have something against being spontaneous?" She questioned, looking to him for a moment as they walked side-by-side.

"No... I just... I don't know," Beck mumbled, scratching his head gently in confusion.

A smile graced Jade's face, "You don't know a lot."

He felt his breathing catch in his throat as he debated on asking her a few more questions. He expected that she'd be giving him sarcastic responses all day, so he wanted to be prepared for it. "I know more than you think."

"Really, now?" she asked, kicking a rock along the cracked sidewalk.

"Yeah..." he said, looking down at his hand and her own as they walked. "I know that you're different, and I know I'm probably going to get punched for this, but..." Beck slid his hand into Jade's delicate palm, and locked their fingers together. It surprised him that she could have such warm hands when she came off as such a cold person. "Is this okay?"

"Am I complaining?"

He took this as a good sign, "Nope, and I don't really think you will be."

"Is that so?" Jade told him, mockingly. "How do you expect to 'wow' me now if your original plan is down the drain?"

"So you're testing how crafty I can be?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as they walked to their first intersection. He looked left and right before deciding on where he was going to take her instead. "This way."

He turned towards the wind and went left, towards a shopping plaza. Since Beck decided this without Jade's knowledge, she was slowly being dragged along the sidewalk in shock. When she finally got her control back she asked, "where are we going?"

"Somewhere," he stated simply. He was taking one hell of a risk by bringing her to this place, but he thought she might like it. Who doesn't like a classic arcade, after all?

Beck squeezed her hand once more before they began walking around the outer edge of the plaza. Today was annoyingly windy, and was causing the boy's thick hair to fly in front of his face. He huffed in frustration before he, sadly, dropped her hand to move it through his dark strands.

"I like how frustrated you get when your hair gets in your face," Jade said, not making eye contact. She was biting her bottom lip and looking kind of embarrassed for saying so.

"And I like your smile," Beck said, nudging his shoulder into her own, trying to provoke a smile from her. When he was successful, after a little pleading, she showed off her perfect smile as she pushed him away from her. It was the best semi-violent act of his life.

As they passed by the grocery store that took up most of the plaza, Jade grabbed onto his hand again, a little tighter than normal. "I hate grocery stores," Jade said, glaring towards the entrance.

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Why?"

"They're always freezing, smell like a doctor's office and they get mad if you start eating in the store even if you're going to buy it. They always yell at you," she explained, dragging him along the edge of the sidewalk so she didn't have to walk through the doors of the store to get to the other side.

Beck ignored her distaste and attempted to change the subject on her. "I hope you like Italian."

"Of course I do," Jade said. "But I don't like the country."

"Is there anything you do like?" Beck asked as a joke, but Jade took it as a serious question.

"You."

He almost forgot how to walk. After nights on the phone with the girl, she never once admitted to having any feelings for him. Even when he answered her question about why he wanted to date her, she said nothing back to him. "Really?"

"I let you hold my hand," Jade said with a look that yelled 'you're a retard' at him, "I rarely let anyone come within five feet of me and you're up close and personal."

He felt his steps landing a little lighter against the pavement. Instead of keeping his hold on her hand, he reached his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him. "You're cute."

"And you're lucky," Jade huffed as they arrived at the end of the plaza. The only things that remained was a shoe-repair shop, and a tiny restaurant called "Mama Buca." Her eyebrow raised a little more, "What kind of a name is Buca?"

"It's my grandmother's last name," Beck stated as he kept them walking past the repair shop and grabbed onto the steel door handle of his family's restaurant. He waited for her to file in before he followed.

"Aww, Beck brought his little girlfriend," an teenage girl, who looked to be about seventeen, said as soon as the door closed behind them. She sat behind a podium, a bored look on her face. Her fingers tapped away on the counter.

Jade could only tell they were related because of the thick head of hair that covered both of their heads. But this girl's eyes were a stunning shade of green, and the patch of freckles that lined the top of each cheek were something Beck didn't have. She was also a lighter skin tone and lacked Beck's natural tan.

"Shut up, Effy," he spoke, rolling his eyes. He was about to usher Jade away, but his annoying relitive wouldn't let it be.

"Oh, no, no, no, you've got to introduce me to your new girlfriend," she said, smiling down at the younger girl.

"I'm Jade," she said with little attitude. It kind of surprised Beck. He'd never seen Jade have that little attitude about something the entire time he's known her.

"Well, Jade, I'm Elizabeth, but you can call me Effy. I'm little Beckette's older sister. We don't get to meet many of the girlfriends. You must be special," she said with a wink, causing a light blush to creep onto Jade's cheeks.

"Stop harassing his date," an older voice spoke. It was too deep to be a woman's, and sure enough, Beck's dad was standing in the middle of the dinning room, walking towards the couple. "Welcome!"

"Jade, this is my dad, Lace," Beck said as Jade began to put the pieces together in her head. His father was about 6'2 and had very broad shoulders. His skin was the same color as his daughter's, and he had a very light trace of those brown dots along his cheeks as well. Although his eye color, and hair matched his son's. "Dad, this is my... friend, Jade."

"Well, it's nice to meet you," he said, reaching down to shake her hand. She hesitated in her mind before reaching out. She really did hate touching. "Beck, take her to the best table, and your mother and I will-"

"Speak for ourselves," another voice spoke from behind his father. A petite woman with long, dark brown hair and deep brown eyes, wearing a small apron over an all black outfit emerged with a smile that was almost identical to Beck's. "I'm Dia, Beck's mother. You're quite gorgeous, my darling. Take her to whatever table you want, and order whatever you want."

And as his parents began to Argue, he quickly ushered Jade away from them. He brought her to the booth closest to the order counter, giving her the view of the window. He gave her a menu with a smile, "when my parents come to get our order, you can tell them what you want, but they're gonna bring you something completely different."

"Why?" Jade asked, looking down at the menu and slipping her thumb nail between her lips as she gently bit away at the nail. Not enough to break it, just enough to focus on. Her foot bumped against his. First, he took it as an accident, but as her foot rested against his own for a second time. He smirked at her, even though her eyes were fixed on the menu in front of her, a smirk pulling at her lips.

"Ready to order?" Beck's dad spoke from above them. His son glared down at the table in front of him, a strong blush coming over his cheeks. He held back his frustration by clasping his hands in his lap tightly enough to turn his knuckles white. "Jade, ladies first."

"Um... Can I have a sweet tea to drink, and then whatever Beck's having for dinner," Jade said, closing her menu and placing it in Lace's open hand.

Beck opened his mouth to speak but his father was already walking away. He huffed, letting the air out of his lungs. It took all his concentration to keep his mouth shut in his father's presence. The last thing he needed was a lecture on manners in front of his girl-... friend.

"What are we?" Beck asked without thinking. His eyes grew just as hers did as they found his. "Sorry..."

"No," Jade said as she looked down with a shy smile. "It's fine. I was actually wondering the same thing."

But before Beck could tell her his thoughts, his mother came to the table with their drinks in her worn hands. "Here you are, my darlings."

"Hey mom," Beck said through gritted teeth. He looked at her with a stare that was borderline pleading with her to leave. Unfortunately her gaze was directed towards his date.

"So, Jade, what grade are you in?" Dia asked, with a sneaky smile.

"Mom! I'm trying to have a date here. This one matters, could you not?" Beck pleaded, putting his head into his hands with a slap.

His mom looked upset at his order, but walked away as he wished. It was bad enough that these people were stopping at nothing to make this the most awkward moment of his life, but now he was too afraid to bring up the subject again.

For almost thirty minutes, they made simple conversations that were aimed towards getting to know the other better, avoiding the topic of being official the entire time. As the restaurant began to fill up, Jade's interest in the small talk started to die when their dinner arrived, "I've never been so open with someone."

"You've never had a best friend before?" Beck asked with a tilted head as he picked at his spaghetti with extra meatballs. There was more pasta left than meat in the bowl as he stabbed another piece with his fork.

"No," she said as she twisted away at her pasta with a distant look in her eye. "I don't care for people very much. I keep to myself."

"Have you had friends before?" He knew it was a weird, and possibly stupid question, but he couldn't help but verify.

"Of course I've had friends," she snapped, looking embarrassed. "I just... haven't been asked out on a date before... or had a guy come up and tell me he liked me."

_This is ridiculous_, Beck thought as he spoke, "but you're beautiful."

"Beautiful yet intimidating," Jade muttered, "That's what my dad told me, at least. I'm kind of difficult."

"Pfft, yeah, you are," Beck said with a huff. As her eyes shot a glare in his direction, she didn't notice his hand that was reaching across the table until it grabbed onto her own. He gave her his award winning smile before saying, "that's what I like about you. You're difficult, and I've always liked a challenge."

She smiled at me as I winked, then she let out a hearty laugh as my mother walked by our table again, "It's getting a little late, Beck. You have homework. Walk your lady home then you need to go home."

"Yes, ma'am," he said with an eye roll that earned him a slap on the head with a menu before the lady walked away. "Shall we?"

Jade nodded to him as she got out of the booth. The way he instantly grabbed her hand made her smile a little wider. As they went out into the cool night air, Jade couldn't help but say, "I never smile this much."

"That's a shame, because your smile's adorable," he said.

"Are you a compliment addict?" She teased as she squeezed his hand a little tighter.

"Only when who I'm with is worth it," Beck said with a laugh as he kissed her cheek. They turned onto the main road and crossed into a small housing development called Willowbrook. Two story houses, and wide, single story houses lined the streets. It was a nice neighborhood from what he could tell.

They walked to the end of the street and took a left, the road cut off quickly after, leaving only one open space for the two story house that stood there. It was a light gray house with a aluminum panel roof with an Ford F-250 parked in the drive way. "That's my house."

She pulled on his hand when they got to the walkway that led to her front door. He was trying to walk her up there, but she stopped him. "Here's fine."

"What?" Beck asked. "No, I'm walking you to your door."

"You can't. My dad will kill you, then he'll lock me in my room forever. I'll be doomed to play World of Warcraft for the rest of my life," Jade said as she pulled him away from her house and past her father's truck. She figured if she was behind the truck, her father couldn't see them.

"World of Warcraft? You're such a nerd," Beck joked as he finally came to a stop. "Your father doesn't want you to date?"

"He doesn't want me to date, hang out, or know boys," she explained, "he's over protective, and kind of an ass. Nothing like your family."

His head tilted to her, "like my family?"

"You know, the laughable, friendly, warm, American family." Jade said, looking down at her feet, "my parents, like the rest of the world, are assholes. Paranoid, annoying, assholes."

The frustrated tone she used to describe him served as all the explanation he needed and he dropped the subject, "Okay, so, can I call you later?"

"If you don't, I'll have to kill you," she said, crossing her arms across her chest with a 'tempt me' look covering her face.

He leaned in with a smile and kissed her on her cheek. As soon as his lips connected, he could feel the heat radiating off of her skin, painting a blushing picture in his mind. "If you kill me, you won't have a boyfriend."

With that he turned and began to walk across the small street her house stood on. He heard her call after him, in a very loud voice. Beck wondered if she even though twice about yelling, "So, that's it? You're just saying your my boyfriend without asking me?"

"Pretty much. I'll call you later," he yelled back as he heard a door open. It was the last he heard from Jade until he got home.

After he called her, three rings had passed. "Hello?"

"Hey," Beck spoke.

"Oh... Hi," Jade said with a nervous tone about her voice.

His eyebrows furrowed together, "Are you okay?"

"Kind of... my dad's freaking out," she said, "Again."

"But why?"

Then she explained his views on his daughter's dating habits after her older sister ended up pregnant at seventeen. Her father was all about pride, and the fact that his eldest daughter could be such a "fuck up" meant that every one of his offspring could make the same mistake. He wasn't about to let his definition of a perfect family go to waste. Jade's father decided it's better for everyone if her sister wasn't allowed in the house anymore, or to family functions, or to Jade's first play. "This is why I never get close with boys. He's never going to let me go out with you, and he heard me yelling to you."

Beck's heart sunk into his chest, "And?"

"He's decided that during Winter Break, we're going to visit my grandmother in Maine on a stupid road trip. I'm going to be stuck with his pride for three days straight there, and three days back."

"Tell him we're not dating." He felt this weird feeling in his chest; he felt like there was no air left in his entire body, like his heart decided to stop working, and his ribs to shatter, all at the same time. "Tell then that I'm gay, or make me sound like your dad's perfect match for you."

"You don't think I tried that already?" Beck could tell that she rolled her eyes as she said this. She went on speaking in her sad tone after, "That's not even the worst part... I saw my dad looking at new schools... all girl schools."

"What? He can't do that! We just met," Beck said as bummed as he could. His heart was ripping out of his chest, and he still couldn't figure out if they were still boyfriend and girlfriend. He could feel her slipping out of his fingers as the seconds passed. He just met the only girl that proved to be a challenge, and now she was being taken away from him. "You can't go..."

"I don't have a choice. This is my dad," Jade said. He heard a slight crack in her voice and then a quick intake of breath. Is she... crying?

"Jade..."

For some reason, Beck was balancing his cell phone against his shoulder as he forced his foot into his vacant shoe. His shoes were on, and thankfully his clothes had stayed attached to his body as he laid in his bed, waiting for the best time to make his call. Now he was standing and slipping his arms into his jacket sleeves. His hands grabbed his _Sector 9_ long board off the wall next to his bedroom door as he began his rush out the door.

If his parents had been awake, not a word could have been said before his wheels hit the pavement as he pushed down the street. He figured if it took him ten minutes to get to Jade's house on foot, it would only be five if he skated. He was determined to have her, and this was the perfect opportunity to show how much he wanted her around, and to be comfortable being emotional in front of him. He oddly didn't mind her angry sense of the world, it meant she was more likely to tell him exactly what she thought of him. It would help him be better for her. He wanted _her._

He could feel the phone going wild in his pocket. Beck was positive Jade would call and call until he picked up. If only he could get her outside of her house without her dad finding out. Maybe he could be lucky and her window resided on the ground floor instead of the upper levels.

In what seemed like a few seconds, he arrived at her house, out of breath and panting. He reached into his pocket and finally answered her calls, "what the hell? Why didn't you pick up before this?"

"How do I get inside?" Beck panted as his free hand fell to his knee to keep himself from toppling over.

"Beck, it's two in the morning," Jade said as if he was the dumbest person on Earth, probably because of the question, more than the A.M problem.

"Is it? I wouldn't know, I haven't looked at the time lately. How do I get to you?"

She sniffled, but took a moment to think about it. She quickly got off her bed and turned on her bedroom light, after she threw a towel down against the back of the door to catch the glow. She flew over to her window and opened it.

"Beck?" she harshly whispered as she stuck her upper body out. Her eyes scanned her driveway. That's when she spotted him about to reach her front lawn. "No!"

"What?" he whisper yelled back.

"My dad installed motion sensor lights. Their room's down stairs," she said, pointing across the front of her house.

"Then I'll go in their yard," Beck explained, then get on their fence and get to your patio roof, then I'll walk to you... quietly."

"You think you could do that?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Anything for you, babe," he said with a smirk, and adding an unseen wink.

He walked against the edge of the sidewalk as he crossed behind the neighbor's fence, walking down about three feet before he began to reach for a spot to grab. Unfortunately it was a wood face so his hands were killing him by the time he lifted himself up completely. He stood as he tried to keep his balance.

Taking a deep breath, he put his hands out in front of him and began to lean forward. As soon as his hands connected to the aluminum roof, he knew he had to lift his body up as much as he could if he wanted to avoid the motion sensors. He used his legs to give him a little push as he put those muscles of his to use and hoisted himself up and onto her roof.

Beck inhaled quickly as he found his footing and attempted to stand up. The slant was more of an angle than he thought, so his balance was a little off. He looked left and saw that Jade had another window on this side of the house. Her upper body was sticking out of the window as she looked at him with anxious eyes. "Get in here."

"Yes ma'am," he said in a mocking tone. He couldn't help it. She had to put up with it. Look at what he was doing to get to her just because he thought he heard her crying. He quickly walked on her hands as well as his feet as he walked down the aluminum, quietly as possible.

When he got to her room, he fell straight onto her queen size, mess of a bed. She brought him down onto her in a quick hug, right after she jerked him into the room. They both heard a rip as his legs came through the window. "Aww man, I liked these jeans."

"Shush," Jade said in a true whisper.

"Are they really heavy sleepers?" Beck asked as he, reluctantly, rolled out of contact with Jade as he sat on her bed, criss cross style.

"No, I'm just extremely paranoid," Jade said as she got on her knees to face him. "I can't believe you're in my bedroom right now."

"Is it that big of a deal?" Beck asked, looking at the long rip that resided on the thigh of his faded jeans. His lips scrunched up to the left side as a sigh escaped.

"Yes. I've never had a boy set foot in my room before. My sister was seventeen when she got pregnant, now she's twenty nine. I'm only thirteen," Jade said in a low voice. She quickly stood up on her bed and reached up to the light that hung on her ceiling. She clicked the light button and plopped down again. "That was a long time ago. My parents are old."

"What would your dad do if he found-"

"Castrate you and rip out your intestines, then probably drag your lifeless body down the highway, hitting every stray pot hole that stood in front of him," Jade explained with utter detail, as if she had it memorized. "He's brutal."

"I can tell, especially since he's got you upset. I came over because I thought you were crying... I can't stand the way a girl's eyes look when she's crying, especially one I care about," Beck said as he looked at her with utter concern, searching for the traces of tears that might have been left over.

"I wasn't crying," she said as her eyes darted left. She was lying.

"I already know you so well. You look to the left when you're making up a story," he said with a smirk.

She mocked him for a moment before smiling, she turned on her T.V and crawled to the top of her bed, getting under her Nightmare Before Christmas covers, she beckoned Beck to come and lay with her. "Hold me. This might be the last time I see you."

"Don't say that," he ordered as he kicked his shoes off. He rolled over to her, almost knocking her blinds into a frenzy on his way. That would have surely resulted in a check in from her dad. He situated himself under the covers and moved his arm to wrap around her waist, and to snake under her neck to hold her to him. "Did he even directly say that you weren't allowed to see me? Maybe he would let you if he got to know me."

"No chance. I've played that card before, 'no, boys,' he said, 'they're all nothing but trouble and you'll end up like your sister, out on the street!' Even though she lives with the man who knocked her up and they're still in love," Jade said with a roll of her eyes as she snuggled back against his chest.

He breathed in the scent of vanilla and grape filled his nose. "Grape?"

She huffed. "Yeah, you're olfactory senses aren't wrong. My hair dye smells like grape," Jade said as she ran her fingers through her dark locks to locate a good strand to show him. She held it up to the light that was shining from the T.V to give him a better view.

He shrugged before nuzzling his face against the crook of her neck. He closed his eyes and took in where he was. Curled up in bed with the most difficult girl in the world, and yet it felt good. Great, even. He wanted to fall asleep like this, but he knew there was no way he could let that happen. Beck liked being a boy too much to be caught by Jade's dad.

A shiver that coursed down his spine in attempts to keep himself awake. "Jade?"

"Hmm?" she said with a distant tone. She was slowly falling asleep in the comfort of his arms.

"You can't fall asleep. If you fall asleep, I can't leave."

"Yes you can," she mumbled, cuddling even closer to him. He wanted to stay. He really did, but he couldn't stay the night. Not yet, at least.

"No. I won't want to wake you up if you fall asleep because it will be too perfect, and since I know you're not as upset now, I think I need to go," Beck said with remorse.

Jade opened her eyes and looked up at him, and was greeted with more than just an eye lock. The thirteen year old's lips pressed gently against her own, just lingering for a moment before pulling back. An innocent kiss. That was it.

Beck then began to get up and out of her covers before reaching for his shoes. Jade sat up, wide eyed, waiting for anything from him. She was in shock. _A word would be nice_, she thought. "What was that?"

"A kiss, and by your reaction, I'm pretty sure it's you're first," he said, looking at her with a smirk.

"Yeah... so, you're still my boyfriend?" Jade asked with shy eyes.

"If you want me to be, we'll make it work no matter what your dad says. If you didn't notice, I'd sort of do anything for you," he said that and instantly felt his cheeks flare up with heat. Luckily it was dark in her room.

She crawled over to him, and planted a kiss on his cheek, "you're gonna be a great boyfriend."

Beck smiled at Jade and kissed her again before bidding her goodnight, even though she demanded he call her as soon as he got home.

_When you smile, I melt inside,  
>I'm not worthy for a minute of your time,<br>I really wish it was only me and you,  
>I'm jealous of everybody in the room.<br>Please don't look at me with those eyes,  
>Please don't hint that you're capable of lies.<br>I the thought of our very first kiss,  
>A target that I'm probably gonna miss.<em>

_Let's go, don't wait, this night's almost over,  
>Honest, let's make this night last forever,<em>

_Forever and ever, let's make this last forever._

_Forever and ever, let's make this last forever. _

"And that's how it all began," Beck told them with a smile.

"You're one of the most dedicated boys I've ever met, I'll give you that," Tori said, "but so soon? I mean, you only knew her a month."

"What do you think we talked about when we texted twenty four seven? You have to talk about everything and anything. Jade was actually into a lot of the same stuff I was: acting, singing, video games, hockey, and writing. Other little stuff too, like bands and shit. We actually have matching tattoos now."

"What?" Tori asked as her jaw dropped, "How did you get a tattoo? You're not old enough."

"So? Jade's friends with a guy who owns a tattoo parlor downtown. He'll tattoo anyone as long as you're with someone he knows, and you can afford it with the discount. He's also pretty awesome at it." Beck reached down to his pant leg and pulled up his skinny jeans as high as he could before his circulation cut off. He showed the left side of his left calf, and the signature Blink-182 smiley face, arrows and all, smiled up at it's onlookers. "All because of that song, and because we both like the band."

"That's awesome," Andre commented, even he hadn't seen the smiley face before. "She has one too?"

"Yeah, in the same place," Beck said as he unraveled his pant leg and let it fall.

"She's never going to be able to wear a short dress ever again," Tori said. "Anyway, what's next? This is actually pretty entertaining."

"Well, for the next few months, we dated in secret. Only really seeing each other during the day at school, and when she'd get her father to let her out of the prison she kept her in. We started to realize that in some weird way, we began helping each other." Beck couldn't help but smile. "What that girl has put me though, oh my God."

"Are we going to hear more of that?" Tori asked, and Andre was the first to respond, "some of it, not all of it."

"Correct," Beck said with a flick of his finger in his friend's direction. He continued on with his explanation, "Jade's dad knew about us being a couple, but he hated it. Her mother wouldn't let him keep Jade as a celibate hostage, so she gave her permission to be dating me, but she still had to get through her father's grasp to get out at night since her mom's a night nurse. I hardly got to see her at first, but then she got more bold. She wouldn't listen to him when he yelled at her to stay home. She'd come out and lock hands with me as she pulled me down the street."

"So she started to stand up to her dad for you?" Tori interjected with a shocked expression, "I thought she wanted nothing more than to get his approval."

"Of course she still does," Beck said. "They had a falling out, which you'll get a little later, and ever since then, Jade's been more sensitive about the dad topic. She misses him, and wants to be close like the were before she hit puberty. At least that's how she puts it."

"Huh... I thought her dad was just hard to please."

"You don't know the half of it," Andre added while he tipped the bottle of Mountain Fizz up to his mouth to take a quick sip.

"And when she started to get more bold with showing off our relationship in public, I was more inclined to ignore all of my friends that wanted something more than just a hug hello," Beck said with a smirk. "I wanted to be with Jade more than make bets with my friends about how many girls I could kiss in one day. I was quite the player until her."

"I still don't understand what's so special about her..." Tori rolled her eyes with a slight huff.

"Girls would fall at my feet just because I was cute and I have cool hair," he said, running his hand through it for emphasis, "but she was a challenge. What part of that don't you get? She didn't like me at first, she pushed me in a pool, for fuck's sake. How much more challenging can you get? If a girl isn't a challenge, we get bored and have to find something else. Her attitude adds a spice, and keeps me on my feet with my emotions. You wouldn't understand."

"It's true," Andre added.

"And why wouldn't I understand?" Tori asked, completely offended. Her jaw was open until the phone that rested in her lap chimed. She opened her new text message with a sigh, "Beck, text Jade back. She's not through with this conversation."

"Eh. I'll do it in a minute," Beck said with a smirk.

"Adding to the flame, I like that," Andre said, returning the smile.

"Okay, why wouldn't I understand?" she persisted.

"You're not much of a challenge with the men. I mean, the guys you have dated, you kind of fawn all over for a while. That's not really attractive to some people, like Andre and I, for instance."

Tori's gaze shot to Andre, "really...?"

"Yeah... kind of," he said with an upset face to match her own. "Sorry."

"Anyway," Beck said, closing his eyes and holding his hands out in front of him to stop the conversation that was going to start before him. "Story time, remember?"

Tori sat back in her chair and huffed, crossing her arms over her chest in anger. She glared at a spot next to her for a moment before beckoning him to continue. Andre was residing with his elbows against his knees and a bottle in his hand, a cap on his knee cap.

"Okay, so, I stopped going around girl to girl because I could, and tried to have an actual relationship. At least, as much of one I could have had in eight grade," he said. "Then I got her to go to school more, and I got her to join the drama program, and she showed me that I could sing. She actually forced me to join her friend's band, and I ended up as the lead singer and guitarist."

"Is that the same one you're in now?" Andre asked, while Tori interjected her own question, "You have a band?"

"Yes and yes. Jade's cousin manages us, and that's how it got started. We have some pretty good music... not that you'd really be into it," he said with an odd facial expression.

"Again, what do you mean?" Tori asked, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

"You like R&B, they like punk. It's simple music math," Andre said. "Most people don't like both. All the screaming, and depressing subjects, and whatnot."

"I like all kinds of music," Tori defended herself.

Beck rolled his eyes to Andre, "Anyway, we can test that out when we get to the song after this one. It's one you'll know. _Better Together_ by Jack Johnson."

"I love this song," Tori swooned as the music began to play in the headphone.

_There is no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard_  
><em>No song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart<em>  
><em>Our dreams, and they are made out of real things<em>  
><em>Like a, shoebox of photographs<em>  
><em>With sepia-toned loving<em>  
><em>Love is the answer,<em>  
><em>At least for most of the questions in my heart<em>  
><em>Like why are we here? And where do we go?<em>  
><em>And how come it's so hard?<em>  
><em>It's not always easy and<em>  
><em>Sometimes life can be deceiving<em>  
><em>I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>That was so long! I almost made it longer. Sorry, lol. My internet is going up and down and up and down, and it's not giving me enough time in between that I can actually update these stories, but hopefully the problem will be fixed soon. At least I'm super bored and I'm doing almost nothing but writing. Lucky for my stories!

**Until Next Time!**


	4. Better Together

_There is no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard,  
>No song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart.<br>Our dreams, and they are made out of real things,  
>Like a shoe box of photographs, with sepia-toned loving.<br>Love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart._

The following months held a few ups and downs for the couple. They would spend as much time together as possible, whether it was Jade's rehearsed lines that let her sneak out to meet him at the park after school let out, to his constant treks into her bedroom at night. It was as if they lived in their own world, apart from his friends or her family.

He was her calm before the storm. On nights her parents would keep her up with their shouting matches, she counted on him to pick up his phone with minimal rings, no matter what the hour. He would calm her down with stupid little poems he'd write about her, or for her, along with a song or two his band had been practicing. That, along with other little things, like keeping her grades up and being a nicer student and friend, he managed to change the girl quite a lot.

It wasn't all one sided, now. Jade made sure that Beck kept his temper down around his annoying family, and she brought out his creative side a little more than before. She'd sit down with him and forced him to work out his artistic block, and through his girlfriend, he got interested in Acting, writing, and eventually with his musical theater interest.

So when she wanted to learn how to get in and out of her bedroom window, he was there to help her up after she fell off the top of the fence.

"Nice going, you dork," he told her as he rushed to her side, leaving his smile noticeable on his face. He began kneeling down next to her, helping her sit up in front of him. As she took her position to a new level, crossing her legs and letting her knees touch his own as they rested against the grass in her neighbor's yard. Her face was already covered with streaks of pain when he finally got a look at his girlfriend.

"Shut up," she said with a groan. This is when he finally noticed that she was holding her wrist in her hand, applying enough pressure that her hand turned an off shade of white. That was what you were supposed to do, right? "I think I landed wrong."

That's when the traces of concern really came upon his face. He pressed his lips to her forehead before taking her fragile wrist into his hand, looking as closely as he could with out moving her tender joint around. He couldn't help but tense his jaw when he saw the blue and purple bulge that was protruding out of her inner arm. He didn't want to freak her out more, so he shook it off, "I think we might want to go to the doctor's, just to be safe."

"Oh fuck. There's something wrong," Jade said as she began to slowly build up to her freak out. This, in return made Beck turn to slight panic.

"What should I do? Call 911? Your mom? And can we not involve your dad? I don't want to leave you, but I feel like he'd kill me when he found out I was the one who did this. Oh God, I'm the one who did this," he said, finally looking down at the girl who still sat in the middle of her neighbor's yard, battered and bruised. Beck hadn't even noticed that he began pacing as he talked, slowing only when he figured out that his girlfriend was hurt because of him. He rushed back to her side, looking tenderly into her eyes, "I'm so so so sorry, Jade."

"It's fine," she breathed, attempting to give him a reassuring smile, but more of a grimace emerged, "just take me to my house. My mom's home, and luckily for your testicles, my father's at work."

Beck nodded as he grabbed her elbow with one hand, and her waist with the other as she was helped to her feet. She brushed off her jeans with her free hand before sighing. She looked down at the extent of her injury, just for her own moral knowledge, she saw the swelling in her wrist for the first time, and almost felt her body throb in terror. "Now would be a good time."

He led her through the neighbor's yard, making sure she focused on walking around the awkwardly placed bushes, and small Japanese ponds that were scattered about, making it extra difficult to panic through. She stumbled a bit on one of the larger rocks, and he had to use her elbow to keep her balance, putting pressure on the rest of her arm, including her wrist.

Jade winced in pain as they finally hit the pavement. To distract herself, she paid attention to minor details of their walk. She still had to get around the wood fence before they could b-line it to the door, and her mother was always in the kitchen or in the living room, luckily both were located in the front of her house. She took another deep breath of pain as Beck's grip tightened on her elbow in response. He was trying to distract the pain, and it did for the most part, so she was thankful.

Beck was rushing as fast as he could with as little strain as he could manage on her. He wanted to get it looked at as soon as possible, just to make sure she was going to be okay. A pang in his chest made him a little less at ease when he began their trek up the front steps of her doorway. He held the front door open as she walked in, holding her own injury now.

"Mommy!" Jade yelled with panic in her voice. She was starting to feel this pain now. She couldn't move her wrist and it was beginning to turn completely purple. "I need you."

"What, what, what?" her mother asked as she walked out of the kitchen, drying her wet hands off on a kitchen towel she immediately threw on the ground when she saw the wrist of her daughter. "What the fuck happened?"

"I fell off a fence," Jade said nervously, wincing as her mother twisted her wrist slowly to test it's mobility. She was trying to see if it was actually broken, or if it was only a serious sprain.

"We need to go to the Emergency Room," she said quickly. Then her gaze finally fell on Beck. "And who might this be?"

"Oh, sorry, I'm Beck Oliver," he said, instantly extending his hand out to shake her's. This must have impressed her a little as she raised an eyebrow at the gesture, and a smile pulled on her lips, as she grabbed his hand. "Sort of the reason she's like this..."

"What the real problem behind this is Dad. If I could just see Beck when I wanted to, I wouldn't have to slip out my freaking window," Jade mumbled with a sigh, and a roll of her eyes. She looked at her nervous boyfriend who couldn't control himself from looking around the foyer. This was the first time he was out of her room.

"We'll talk about that later, but it was nice to meet you. I'm Juliette West, Jade's mother," she said as she got off of her knees and rose to her feet. She quickly walked to the side table and grabbed her keys. "I take it you guys don't know each other, so I'll keep this little thing a secret. I saw Jade trip down the stairs, that's the alibi. Got it?"

The teenagers nodded as the mother rushed them out of her house...

_All of these moments just might find their way into my dreams tonight,  
>But I know that they'll be gone when the morning light sings,<br>Or brings new things for tomorrow night, you see,  
>They'll be gone too, too many things I have to do,<br>But follow these dreams and they might find their way into my day to day scene,  
>I'd be under the impression, I was somewhere in between.<br>With only two, just me and you, not so many things we got to do,  
>Or places we got to be, we'll sit beneath the mango tree now.<br>_

Months after, Beck still felt horrible every time he saw the black cast, covered in silver scribbles her mother and her, very few, friends had signed. He held her from behind as they laid down in her bed at the late hours of the night, the only time they could really just be alone. His index finger traced along the pattern someone had left along her cast, giving it some sort of tribal look as the markings stood out in gold instead of the usual silver.

"Stop thinking about it," Jade mumbled as she shifted from within his arms. She was now face to face to the only man who ever cared about her as more than a friend. Hell, he was the only boy who has made it into her heart. "It was almost a month ago. Forget about it now."

"I can't just forget about it. I hurt you," he mumbled, casting his gaze from her gorgeous, hazel eyes before traveling down to her battered wrist. He kissed the top of her forehead with a sigh. "I can't believe I let you fall."

"I thought you wanted me to fall," she said with a playful smirk as she pressed the tip of her nose against his. She rubbed her lips lightly against his, just to be a slight tease. "Wasn't that supposed to be the point of dating?"

He smirked and pressed his lips against her own, applying enough pressure to push her back a good inch or two. She smiled at him gently, "you lose, babe."

Beck rolled his eyes as he went back to the previous position, his nose against hers. His lips were only slightly touching her own as he looked from her lips back to her eyes, then back again. The wouldn't stop shifting at she spoke, "are we really going to do this, Oliver?"

"Why do you think I'm in the position, West?" he teased, while his hands began to wonder under the fabric of her shirt along her stomach. He knew where he was allowed to touch and where not to touch. She smirked as she hardly held her lips against his own, only to tease him. She loved this game.

She bit his bottom lip playfully as she kissed the side of his mouth, to his jawline, to the base of his neck. He shivered under the mere contact of her luscious lips pressing against the sensitive skin that was open and waiting for her to attack. She began to roughly bite and nip at the bare flesh as her heated breath ignited his senses. He pushed her up gently. He used a hushed tone, filled with utter want and lust, "You win."

One look at his dazed expression and she knew she had him. She straddled his hips and sat up straight, leaving her hands on top of his abs. "I always win."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Beck mumbled as he grabbed onto her wrists before he pulled the girl down against his chest. She snuggled against him as he locked her within his arms and rested her head upon his pecks. He kissed her forehead before she could get out of his grasp.

Jade moved beside him, resting between the side of his stomach and his arm, fitting into the nook of his shoulder. She looked up at him and kissed the edge of his chin. Beck wanted a little more, so he nudged her head with his nose. Unfortunately for her man, Jade wasn't in the most active mood.

"What?" Beck asked, tilting his head so he could look into her eyes. He let his hand cup her chin as he placed a tender kiss against her lips.

"Nothing..." she lied, "I'm just tired..."

He took it as nothing. An eight grader couldn't have possibly known the inner workings of girls, and how completely complicated they could be. Beck felt the girl shake a little; it felt like she was cold or something. He wrapped himself around her, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck. "Jade, you okay?"

"Yeah," she said in a strained voice. Was she... was she crying? No. No. Beck knew better. She couldn't be crying. Jade was the toughest girl in the world. "I said I was tired. Let me sleep."

She adjusted herself a little more within his grasp, turning around so she could cuddle up to his chest again. Her eyes were closed as she clung tight to his chest. Her cheeks were still clinging to the red that rested on her pale skin. He kissed her forehead, "goodnight, my Jade."

"Until tomorrow, my Beck," she whispered before lifting her head, and kissed his chest. Her head laid back down, and her arm hung over his stomach. She began to breathe in a rhythm, signaling the first signs of sleep. He kissed her forehead one last time before closing his eyes.

_I'll just close my eyes until she rolls off of me so I can leave without waking her up_, Beck thought as his arm wrapped tighter around his sleeping girlfriend...

_I believe in memories,  
>They look so, so pretty when I sleep.<br>Hey now, and when I wake up,  
>You look so pretty sleeping next to me,<br>But there is not enough time,  
>And there is no, no song I could sing,<br>And there is no combination of words I could say,  
>But I will still tell you one thing,<br>We're better when we're together._

* * *

><p>"And that's when I fell asleep," Beck said, taking a sip of his water, and letting the bottle empty into his mouth before he recapped it, placing it in his book bag. "Her dad found us the next morning. I have never jumped out of a window so fast in my life. I actually work up the neighborhood with the alarm system and motion sensors her paranoid father put up."<p>

"Really?" Tori said with her jaw on the floor. "What'd he do about it?"

Beck's expression turned less happy, and more upset. "He took her away from me."

She arched an eyebrow, 0"What do you mean?"

"I waited a day to do anything with her. I didn't talk, text, or even try to get into her room, which turned out was my biggest mistake," Beck said. He looked at the floor as his fist fell into his other palm. He rubbed his knuckles tightly. "Surprisingly, you can pick up and move your entire family in one day."

"He didn't!" Tori's eyes went wide. "He made them move! To where?"

"The far end of Calabasas," Beck said, "but I didn't know that at the time. It was like Jade fell off the face of the Earth. The only person I felt complete with was gone. I felt like I had so much left I could have said. I loved Jade. I knew that. But she didn't, and I needed a way to tell her."

"This is where I come in," Andre said, smirking at Tori before nudging her with his elbow.

"Yeah. Andre set the whole thing up, and also the reason I found out about Hollywood Arts," Beck said with a smile to his best friend.

"How? Didn't you go to different schools after the move?" She asked.

"Well, if there was no way I could have contacted Jade by phone, I thought there could have been a way to get through to her if I made a video. Maybe someone she knew would see it and show it to her. It turns out, she found it on my page one day." He said with a smirk. "I got my band together, and with the help of our talented Mr. Harris, I made a Youtube video where we preformed the song 'The Promise'. The one New Found Glory did, since it was more our style."

"Aww, to tell her you love her?" Tori asked with her face turning to the beginning stages of a cute attack.

"Not in so many words..."

"Wait, what?" Tori asked.

"Just listen." He pressed the play button, playing his voice through the speakers, letting Tori view his video. A short haired version of the man sitting in front of her looked into the camera, with a serious tone as he said, "Jade West. You left before I could say everything I needed to. This is a way to tell you. I really hope you see this."

He backed up a little, as he began to play his guitar before singing into the microphone:

_I'm sorry but I'm just thinking about the right words to say,_

_I know they don't sound the way I planned them to be,_

_But if you stay around a while I'll make you fall for me,_

_I promise you, I promise you, I will._


	5. The Promise

Beck shoved the wire for his black and white, Fender electric guitar into the amp that stood against the cluttered wall of junk his friend, Ray's, family kept in their garage. The drums stood directly next to the piece of shit truck that was still being unloaded in the, thankfully, two car garage. It was big enough to fit the practice space, and left a space for his mother's decked out Charger, but when she wasn't home, it could house the truck that held their band equipment when Ray's mother was home, which meant less work for the current trio at moving the instruments. They were constantly moving their stuff from one space to the other, so it put a lot of extra work for these lazy teenagers.

"Don't let it bang against the truck, dumb ass," Craig spoke, reaching up and protecting the back of his bass from the metal side of the vehicle's bed. Ray rolled his eyes as he held the delicate instrument by the neck. His original intention was to just place it on the ground, lean it against the truck, and jump off the side to bring it to Craig, but no. As soon as the boy touched Craig's "baby" the man's senses went haywire.

"Just take the fucking thing," Ray said as he let go without a care.

"Watch it!" Craig's reflexes were fast enough, thankfully. He flicked off his friend quickly before turning to Beck, who was really the only one getting ready. Craig walked over there, setting the strap over his shoulders before kneeling next to the amp to look for his wires. He looked out the open garage door for a moment and saw a car pull up. He stood up and smiled as a boy hopped out of the passanger's seat. "Hey, Andre!"

"What's up, Craig?" The boy said with a smile as he walked up the driveway, his hands half way in the front pockets of his baggy jeans.

Craig walked to meet him at the door of the garage. They did a quick hand shake with a hug while Beck surveyed the boy from a distance. Ray jumped out of the pick-up's bed before taking his place next to him. "Is that the music guy?"

"That's specific," Beck mumbled as his friend finished speaking to Andre. He sported a thick Afro, adding a funny shape to the boy's head. He was wearing a vintage shirt, with a pair of black, baggy Dickies that were holding onto his lower hips by the white belt that was tightened nicely.

"Beck, Ray, this is Andre," Craig said, motioning towards his friend. "Andre, this is Beck and Ray, my bandmates."

"What's up?" Beck said, and Ray just nodded with his hand saying the words for him.

"Nothin' much, nothin' much," Andre said. He twisted the backpack that was over his shoulder into the front of his body. He opened the biggest pocket, reaching in and grabbing his video camera, along with his laptop, and a few extra wires. "I'll just be a minute to set up."

"No problem," Craig said. He walked towards his friend Ray, grabbing him by the shoulders to turn him around before pushing him towards the disassembled heap of drums that laid in the middle of the practice space. Ray began walking with a huff as Craig followed him.

"So," Andre said with an awkward tone. He began to set up in front of the main microphone, grabbing a chair from the side and started to use it as a chair for his laptop. He knelt down in front of the keyboard, and plugged a few wires in. "You're the one who needs to get his feelings out?"

"Yeah," he said with a scrunched face. "He told you?"

"Yeah. This was kind of last notice, I had other things, but I'm a sucker for a love story." Andre touched his hand to his heart with a laugh. He plugged one wire into his camera and into his computer before rising. He grabbed another cable and stuck that one into the amp's sound system that held the guitar and bass cords, along with the microphone. Andre walked back to the laptop to open his web cam. It held the frame of the two mic stands, with the drums in the background. The digital camera in Andre's hand was going to provide other angles, but mostly it was going to be a wide angle shot. "Are we ready?"

Beck turned around to look at his band mates. They fell into position before giving him the appropriate head nod. He took a steady breath before turning back to Andre. "Let's do this."

"Wooh!" Ray said, hitting his drumsticks together above his head. Craig took a quick strum through his strings before smirking at the lead singer. "Ready when you are, boss." He sent his friend a salute before placing his fingers on the correct notes.

"Thanks, guys," Beck said before turning to Andre. He nodded and the dread head touched the space bar on his keypad as the red light began to blink. He stared at the camera that was focused in on him as he spoke, pretending it was the girl who he was singing to. "_I don't know what happened, or why you left. But I planned to sing you a song to show you how I felt eventually, but right now you're gone and I have no other option. If you were here, I'd show you all of this... so if one day, I happen to stumble into the same coffee shop as you, or if I end up near a pool and a party for scissors, I can get this chance again... and not screw it up for us again._"

He gave a nod to the other friends as he began to strum and sing: "_I'm sorry but I'm just thinking of the right words to say, I know they don't sound the way I planned them to be, but if you wait around a while I'll make you fall for me. I promise, I promise you I will._"

Craig was in view of Andre's camera as he jumped up and slammed down onto the strings of his bass as the tempo picked up and Beck's words became more than lyrics. They became memories in motion for him. Every line spoke a different story he could think about with Jade. He played his heart out to Andre like the boy was actually her. "_If you need a friend, don't look to a stranger. You know in the end. I'm gonna always be there_. _And when you're in doubt, and when you're in danger, take a look all around, and I'll be there_."

As he went into the chorus again, his mind was more on a flashback than on the lyrics that were pouring out of his mouth. His thoughts wandered back to the first week they were dating. He was picturing the look on her face the first time he stood up for her...

When one of the most annoying boys in their grade wouldn't stop talking to Jade. Every day, Beck would see the guy waiting by her locker with a note in his hand. He would follow her to every class, try to sit with them at lunch, and get too close for Beck's comfort. Especially when Jade wasn't on the market.

It wasn't the talking that bothered the boyfriend the most. It was the day Beck arrived late to Jade's locker, so he didn't have time to walk her off to gym, but when he caught a glimpse of her walking away, the awkward boy following close behind.

Out of sheer suspicion, he followed, even when Johnny almost blew his cover by calling out to him from across the courtyard, but he quickly gave the boy the finger, before placing it on his lips, shushing the boy. His attention turned back to the pair as they turned the final corner as the bell rang, and he lost them in his vision.

When the boy turned the corner, he witnessed the awkward teenager grabbing onto his girlfriend's wrist roughly, tossing her against the wall before using his strength to overpower her. His hands held her shoulders against the lockers that lined the hallway, pushing her with a greater force than before.

"Get the hell off of me," Jade ordered. The expression on her face held mostly confusion, but it also held some fear, and some panic.

"C'mon, baby, you know you want this," the kid said with a smirk, moving his face closer to Jade's as she struggled with the pressure.

That's when his masculine instinct kicked in. Before he could even understand the rage that was building in his chest, he was pushing the boy away from his girlfriend, and shoving him into another set of lockers. His fists tangled into the collard shirt that was on the child's body. Beck's eyes bore into his as Jade watched from next to him, "if you come anywhere near my girlfriend again, I will kill you. I know that she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but if I see it, she won't have the chance to."

Without another word, Beck pushed the kid away from the couple, watching as he struggled to get his footing well enough to run away. He rounded the corner without looking back at all. As her boyfriend glared at the last spot he saw the boy, Jade walked over to him and slipped her soft hand within his grasp. He turned to look at her, placing a kiss against her forehead. "Sorry I was late."

"It's okay," Jade said in a low voice. "Don't make it a habit."

"I won't. I _promise_," Beck said with a smile, attempting to forget what just happened to him. He began to walk while Jade pulled his hand towards the Auditorium, which was currently their favorite place to skip. He couldn't help but stumble along behind the demanding girl with a smile.

**Andre **pressed a button on his camera to angle the video another way, changing the feed to show on the web cam, what they saw from his point of view. Beck was in view now. He made a few weird faces as his new friend panned by, getting a shot of the entire band before the new verse started. He focused on Beck for a moment as he kept singing strongly, "_when your day is through, and so is your temper, you know what to do, I'm gonna always be there. Sometimes if I shout, it's not what's intended. These words just come out, with no gripe to bare_..."

Jade's feet stomped up the driveway that lead to her boyfriend's house, not even bothering to knock on the door before letting herself into the house. Beck's sister, Effy was on top of some boy on the couch, probably the new love of her week. Her lips broke away from the disappointed man as his hands fell onto her hips. She snapped her head in Jade's direction with a glare as she spoke with venom, "do you _mind_?"

"Not when I walk in on it every week," Jade said with pure annoyance, "has she called you the wrong name yet? That happened to the last one I saw under her. Have fun."

With that, Jade continued her trek up the stairs, not caring that Effy was speaking some ridiculous form of Italian, cursing every step the young girl took towards the upper level. She hit the top when she heard the front door slam shut. A devious smirk was forming on her lips as she turned along the railing to go to her favorite room in the house.

The door clad with many different posters, drawings, and labels instead of a coat of paint stood in front of her. She had to take a deep breath before she could fully form some of the nerve she thought she had on the way over here. She gripped the bronze knob tightly before twisting it and opening the door without a knock.

Jade felt surprised, even though she knew exactly what was going on. Lindsey Rice was perched on top of Beck's bed, sitting too close to Jade's property. Even though there was a text book between them, it still drove Jade's chest through a wall. "Hello."

"Jade," Beck said with nervous eyes. _Oh yes_. He knew exactly what was about to happen. His vision shifted back and forth between the two, dominating, girls. "Um... what's up, babe?"

"I just came by to see how my boyfriend, who won't return my calls, was doing," Jade said with a faked happy before turning to the blonde girl with almost no chest. "Now, I want to know how Lindsey's doing today."

"I'm doing okay... I guess."

"Well, I'm glad you guessed because it looks like that answer is going to change if you're not down those stairs in a matter of three point five seconds," Jade threatened, showing her clenched fists as she tried to contain herself to at least give the girl a chance.

"Point five...?"

"That's giving my fist time to connect with your pretty little face," Jade said, giving her a look that could scare death himself. As she began to count down, the girl quickly gathered her things and was out the door by the time she hit two. Jade's attention twisted from the fleeing girl to the fearing boy. Her arms crossed on top of her chest, "explanation time. Go."

"I wasn't doing anything, we were just studying-"

"Studying!" Jade exclaimed as she cut him off, "is that what they're calling it these days? You didn't even tell me! Why're you keeping things from me? I had to find out from Craig about this. You should have been the one to tell me. Especially when it's got to do with a girl like her."

"A girl like her?" Beck asked, his eyes growing in size. "Are you kidding me! She's nothing I look for in a girl." He grabbed her by the wrist as he got off his bed before pulling her towards the elongated mirror that stood on his closet door. He positioned her in front of the reflection as he stood behind her, putting his chin on her shoulder, and his hands on her waist. "This is everything I look for in a girl."

"That's not what Craig said..." Jade mumbled, looking at her reflection like it was disgusting. "He said you liked blonde, and skinny and perfect-"

"Jade, stop being stupid," Beck yelled, taking his hands off the girl's waist before turning away from her in frustration. This was something he was starting to get annoyed with. Not only did she have the shortest temper in the world, but she was also jealous. About every little aspect of him. But once he noticed the look on her face, he regretted yelling instantly. He walked over and tried to engulf her with his embrace, but she took a step away.

Jade looked at him with an expression full of hurt and looks of sadness he couldn't bare to see across her perfect face. He saw the She spoke with quivering words, "don't yell at me. I can't stand it when people yell at me, and especially when you yell at me. I don't like it."

"I'm sorry, babe," Beck said offering her his hand, trying to look as sincere as possible. When she finally took it, he pulled her close instantly. She buried her face into the crook of his neck. She placed her arms around his waist, as he wrapped his arms around her neck, kissing the side of her head. "I won't do it again."

"Promise?" she asked without moving. He felt her lips move against his neck gently as she spoke.

"I promise," Beck said, rubbing her back gently...

"_**I've gotta tell ya...**__ I gotta tell ya... I need to tell ya..._" Beck sang as his heart beat sped up. "_I'm sorry but I'm just thinking of the right words to say, I know they don't sound the way I planned them to be, but if you stay around a while, I'll make you fall for me. I promise you, I promise you, I will... I will... I will..._"

The instruments ceased motion, letting the final sounds trail off. Andre clapped for them as the blinking red light held a steady glow. Beck was breathing heavily as he came back to reality. Craig and Ray rushed over to the camera for a playback, while it took their lead singer a minute to shake off the daze of emotion, but he joined none the less.

By the time Andre had put the video up on The Slap, it already had a comment. Beck's chest was pulling towards the screen as the mouse ran over the words. He thought it was going to be her. He knew it was going to be her... but then it wasn't.

Ironically, Lindsey was the first to comment: _She's a lucky girl._

Beck took a deep sigh before walking out of the garage to take a walk, to level his thoughts. It wasn't here. If she no longer had a profile on the website, she probably didn't even know the video was up. She won't ever see it, and he won't ever see her.

"Well, obviously you did," Tori stated with a roll of her eyes. Andre hit her kneecap gently with a laugh.

"Yeah, and we met again, here at Hollywood Arts," Beck said. "Andre submitted my video to the principle when he took a tour for early acceptance. The big guy was impressed, so he said I was in, but Craig and Ray weren't on board. I ended up here by myself, but over the summer... I met someone new."

"Oh God," Tori said, knowing what this was going to end up being.

"I got a girlfriend over the summer, so when I saw Jade on my first day of school, you could imagine what the thoughts going through my head would be." Beck said with a noticeable shutter. "Not only was I going to hurt Jade, she was going to hurt Molly, my girlfriend at the time, but I was going to lose every chance I could have had with her. Then I was in the audience when she tried out."

His fingers ran across the screen, making sure that it played because this song tended to be faulty, because it's a dicey, but good enough, recording. As the music started, Jade's voice accompanied it. Tori's eyes squinted, "is that Jade?"

"That's the song she wrote me after she saw me play The Promise," Beck explained before he shushed her and told her to listen.

"I tried to tell you, I've got to get away. I've tried to say, I need my space. I've got to get some distance in between my heart and my head, I'm on the razor's edge. I've been here before. I know the way..." Jade's tender voice sang.


End file.
